


clementine.

by agoras



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, as always, baby!reiner, general themes of racism/discrimination, maybe ooc reiner idk, mentions of abuse, not rlly grammar checked/proofread, reiner braun deserves da world, soft angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:28:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29960943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agoras/pseuds/agoras
Summary: “my face is full of spiderwebs, all tender, yellow-blue. and still with one eye open, well, all i see is you.”or the one where childhood love is enough to drive a young and easily impressionable reiner braun.
Relationships: Reiner Braun/Reader
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27





	clementine.

“won’t you...get in trouble for being here? and talking to me?”

reiner’s hazel eyes always had a nervous glint to them, always looking for someone or something. 

he had that same look on his face when you first met in the community library of liberio. you had inquired about the book he has reading, chipping in that the novel was a good one and you actually wanted to read it again. when he noticed you lacked the eldian armband, his blood grew cold. offering you the book without hesitation as he lowered his eyes to the floor. you frowned at his actions and declined, he was quite clearly still reading the book. you saw it. “you can just give it to me when you’re done,” you smiled, pushing the book back into his chest. blinking twice, he looked back up at you and felt his heart in his throat, “of course!” 

you held your smile as your eyebrow quirked at his behavior, “what’s your name?”

“i don’t care,” you said, “it’s stupid.” your fingers played with the grass between both your and reiner’s hands, looking down at the small gap between you. “one day, there won’t be any more stupid rules. one day, we can just be.” 

laughter ensued as you ran through town, reiner somewhat far behind you in the chase. jumping and ducking and sliding through the street. you glanced behind you at the blonde, “could you be any slower, braun?” you called back to him. 

reiner picked up his pace as his smile turned into a grit of determination. he almost caught you, too, until a marleyan soldier suddenly grabbed your arm, sending your feet flying beneath you from the sudden halt in movement. your breath left you at the sensation of suddenly not touching the ground, your free arm gripping the shirt of whoever stopped you in efforts of not completely falling onto your butt. 

a low voice called your name as the arm set you back on the ground, “what are you doing out here? you should be in school.” looking at the big person, it was your elder brother. “samir! don’t do that to me, you scared me!” hitting his arm you yanked out of his grasp. he chuckled at your reaction before playfully ruffling your hair.

reiner had long stopped running. he currently stood five feet away, fear radiating out of his pores at the prospect of getting in trouble. and as samir’s eyes looked at reiner, not failing to notice the yellow eldian band on his arm, the older man’s face grew void of the warmth it showed you only moments ago. 

“what business do you have outside of your jurisdiction, boy?” 

reiner straightened his back as he showcased a perfect marleyan salute, eyes staring forward and avoiding your face, “i’m sorry, sir. i was just-“

“you were just what?” the taller man stalked forward as he glared at reiner, getting dangerously close to his face. he felt so small. so stupid. 

“stop! we were just playing! he didn’t do anything wrong.” running forward, you pulled at samir’s white sleeve, “i convinced him into playing with me. i’m sorry.” 

your brothers steel stare never once left reiner, but he spoke to you all the same. “if you wouldn’t play with your own shit, why would you play with an eldian?”

reiner’s eye twitched as spit hit his face. he couldn’t show any emotion to the words. he knew it was his burden to bear the wrongings of the eldian race, he understood it and accepted it. he was a soldier to marley before anything else. he knew his place. 

you, however, gapped at your brother’s words. how could he say something so disgusting? after he sent reiner running back home, he carried you back to your own. hot tears running down your face as you protested. it’s safe to say that once your father heard the news of you being caught “frolicking around with an eldian” he didn’t take it lightly. 

the next time reiner saw you, you had a dark bruise on your arm, bruises on your shins and behind your thighs, and a loud purple bruise on your swollen right eye. reiner was horrified at the sight, yet when you saw him you still smiled and waved.

you both laid there under the shade of a tree for a moment longer, shallow breathing adding to the noise of the canaries and the swaying of the branches above you. you wanted to take his hand, but maybe it was best you didn’t. that’s what the healing scars told you and the memory of being beat and left without food for thirty-six hours as a punishment for hanging around with reiner. you couldn’t cry about it and you wouldn’t. you didn’t do anything wrong. why should you be sorry?

reiner gazed at you the whole time, hazel eyes just a little greener today as they analyzed your round face. he wanted to grab your hand, too. he wanted to tell you how right you were, how smart you are, and how sorry he was for not being able to protect you. it was all his fault. yet the words wouldn’t leave him because of fear. fear of what may come to you both, mainly what more would become of you, terrified him. he was bound to become a warrior, he couldn’t grow soft with you. he had a family to take care of. were you not just as close to his heart as his blood kin, though, too? wasn’t that why he snuck out of training to be closer to you? surely it couldn’t be because you had no kind of place in his world. reiner looked at your eyelashes. he didn’t know they could get so long on a person before...and was your nose always that perfect looking? he wanted to be able to stare at you all day, but he knew this was wrong. opening his mouth to speak, he suddenly felt a hand on his own.

his breath caught in his throat, “h-hey!” the protest was low as his body tensed, eyes widening at the foreign feeling as he looked down. you had  touched  him. 

your hand briefly let go of him before going back to softly hold his pinkie and ring finger. reiner knew he should have immediately snatched his hand away, chastised you for your shameful actions, he should have done everything he was told to do by his family, friends, and the law; keep his head down, speak when spoken to, be a soldier to marley and nothing more. if he had done that from the start, though, he would’ve never found you. he wouldn’t have gotten the chance to learn your name, your favorite color, and the way you looked when you smiled at him while the wind blew your hair across your face. 

as he looked at the way you held on to his two fingers he found himself unable to speak again.  it felt so good . your palm was so soft and lacked the clamminess he felt from pieck’s hand when she would playfully grab his arm, pulling him to the next destination. 

he had never felt affection like this before, but for every second you had his fingers in your hand the more he craved what he had never known. the more he began believing your words. the more determined he felt to make a world in which honor could be restored to the eldian race and he could then be able to hold your hand whenever and wherever he wanted to. a world where neither of you would be hurt from being with the other and where he could defend you from anyone that tried to touch you. a world where he could care for you out loud instead of in the four walls of his skull. 

reiner took the initiative to shift your hands this time, fully intertwining your fingers and letting out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in. 

“yeah,” he whispered as he looked back at your face (your beautiful, heaven-sent face), “one day.”

**Author's Note:**

> if u read this far thnk u sooo much pls make sure to leave kudos n comments if u liked it 🥺 lowkey wanna make an anthology out of dis but hm.


End file.
